Of Gnats and Great Teachers
by Take this to Heart
Summary: The Common Room has always been a calming place for Lily Evans. But tonight, it's anything but peaceful. Join Lily for a ride with annoying insects and Sirius , James Potter, and hidden desire. Somethings just can't be covered up.


**Disclaimer: All the amazing Marauders and Co. belong to J.K Rowling. :D**

_Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt._

Wonderful.

If there's one thing I hate most in the world, it's gnats. Their tiny little bodies flying and flitting around my head and in my ear and landing on my paper unnerve me to no end. As now, just as I'm beginning to relax into the common room couch, the filthy little insect decides to disrupt my peace.

I slowly set down my quill, eyeing the insect on my parchment. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself to squish it...of course it flew away.

Absolutely infuriating! Just as your getting ready to smash the bloody daylights out of it, it flies away, only to come right back. That's another thing. The buggers always seem to center around me. I mean, it's not like I smell or anything...at least I hope not. Of course I don't smell...Peter Pettigrew smells. Why don't the gnats ever bother Peter? Or Sirius?

Oh, Sirius. He uses practically a whole bottle of hair potion almost every day. And that stuff definitely has a distinct smell. Not bad...just...different. I suppose that's the way he wants it. As if it wasn't enough to have practically the entire female population die everytime he walked past, he has to make sure that his scent lingers in the air.

Oh, Sirius.

My eyes aren't wasted on his arrogant self. They're reserved for his best friend. No, not Remus.

James.

James smells nice too...like sky and pajamas and breakfast.

_Bzzt. Bzzt._

Oh. Merlin. Now that ruddy gnats done it. It's gone and interrupted my James-thinking. _Nothing_ is allowed to do that. Alice found this out when she attacked me with Herbology homework in the middle of a wonderful dream involving James and I and a smidge of Firewhiskey. Poor Alice... But hey, at least she had an excuse to talk to Frank; she'd only been pining for him for forever and a day. And he _is _a master at sprouts.

_Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt._

My nostrils flared out in frustration and I wildly slammed my hand onto the table, missing the gnat completely while upsetting my ink bottle all over my homework. I let out a swear that would make even Marlene's toes curl and rummaged through my bag for my wand.

"Wow, Evans. Never knew you were so angry. What did that poor little inkwell ever do to you?"

I groaned at the sound of Sirius' voice and balled up my homework angrily, pitching it behind me.

"Ow."

"Oh, shut up Sirius, it's not like that hurt," a voice sighed.

I turned around, sending a tight smile towards him. "Hey, Remus."

He nodded pleasantly. "Lily."

"Where's er...James?" I asked casually, avoiding Sirius' blinding smile that spread across his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he snickered, launching himself over the back of the couch and landing next to me. "Little Miss Lily finally craves our Jamesie."

I swallowed uncertainly, feeling the flow of blood beginning to make it's way to my cheeks at Sirius' all too true accusation. That's when I saw it.

The inconspicuous insect resting on his cheekbone. Without thinking, my hand raised on it's own accord and slapped him across the face. You probably already know, the gnat escaped it's grisly death seconds before my hand made contact with Sirius' cheek. His jaw dropped and he scooted away from me.

"Alright! Bloody--I'm sorry! Just a joke, Evans."

I stood up, rolling my eyes; Sirius immediately jumped up also, leaping backwards until he almost fell into the fire. "What more do you want me to say?"

Remus began choking as he unsuccessfully attempted to hold back his guffaws.

"Black, relax. There was just a gnat."

"A gnat? What are the ladies going to think when they see a big red handprint stamped on my cheek? You've marred me for life! I'll never be able to get another girlfriend! Oh, thanks Evans, my life has no meaning to it anymore..."

I turned to Remus, only to find that he'd stopped laughing and was standing there with a slightly pained look on his face as he stared at Sirius.

"Remind me why I'm his friend again, Lily?"

I shrugged, taking out another piece of parchment to start my homework over on. The bitter disappointment welled up inside me at the realization that James wasn't going to be hanging around with his friends anytime soon tonight, but I swallowed it with effort and sat back down.

"Oh my God, Moony!" Sirius gasped. (I've long given up on trying to figure out their nicknames.) "Alice will never snog me again!"

_That _got my attention. "_Excuse_ _me_?"

"Not your Alice," Sirius said impatiently. "My Alice."

"You're so skilled in the art of explaining things," Remus commented dryly.

Sirius groaned. "Your best friend, skipping through meadows, sunshine Alice is in Gryffindor. My snog-worthy, beautiful, blonde-haired Alice is in Ravenclaw."

Remus scratched his neck uncomfortably. "Er...I hate to be the one to break this to you mate, but Alice is in Hufflepuff and she has brown hair."

That's when I decided to tune out their conversation. Sirius is the most big-headed, irritating prat I've met in all my life. Well, except for James, but he's strangely alluring.

"...never again! I can't believe that you'd be so cruel to me, Evans! All I've ever done is love you--"

"Would you like a broken jaw instead of a sore cheek?" I interrupted him, clenching my fists together.

"N-No..."

"Then I suggest you stop talking."

I was always in a bad mood when James skipped out on me. Well, I guess 'skipped out' is the wrong term. Left me out in the cold. Left me hanging. Forgot about me. Didn't care anymore. Those are all good explanations of this scenario, albeit a little exaggerated. See, there's just this thing inside me that seems to swell up to a point of pain waiting for James and on nights when he doesn't show, it just pops. I couldn't bring myself to even restart my homework; that's how you know it's serious. Lily Evans, abandoning homework because she's fawning over a boy? That's so Alice-like. Definitely not me in the slightest.

I suppose I could just tell James the truth. Merlin knows he'd be okay with it, he's only been chasing me for the better part of four years. It's just that whenever I get the chance to, I just can't. The words are right there in my throat and they just die on the way out. It makes me want to stick my hand in the fire on purpose, just to punish my gutless self. How did I end up in Gryffindor anyways? It's official, the Sorting Hat needs to pass the job on to his child. If hats can have children. Maybe he has a baby bonnet...can hats even mate?

Ah, I digress.

The real reason I can't tell James how insane he makes me is because of a little thing some like to call pride. I call it: annoying-little-pushy-bugger-that-prevents-me-from-cornering-James-and-snogging-the-breath-out-of-him-every-day-of-my-bloody-life.

The portrait hole opened then, and the object of my thoughts stepped into the room, followed closely by the aforementioned smelly Peter Pettigrew.

"James!" Sirius exclaimed, practically flying towards him. "I know that you like them feisty, but this is taking it to an extreme!"

"Er...sorry?"

I smiled slightly at his bewilderment and that's when I saw it...again.

The stupid little insect buzzing around Peter's hair. I tore off a shoe and launched it towards him, intending to kill said insect, or at least render it incapable of flight.

"See!?" Sirius shrieked. "Do you see? That is exactly what I'm talking about! She's so _violent_--"

"Shut your trap," I moaned, falling back onto the couch. "It was just a gnat!"

"A gnat? You expect me to believe th--"

"Padfoot, why don't you take the Marauders up to the dormitories?"

"Alright, after you."

"After...me? I just told you to go!" James ran a hand threw his hair confusedly and had I not been sitting down, I very well might have lost feeling in my legs and collapsed. As it was, I think my left arm deteriorated to putty.

"You said take the Marauders," Sirius insisted. "You are a Marauder."

James closed his eyes. "Take the other Marauders and leave me here."

"Why?"

"Sirius--"

"Fine, fine!" Sirius sighed before nodding and strutting over to the stairs. "C'mon mates."

Remus and Peter (who shot a terrified glance in my direction) followed him to the foot of the stairs where they waited patiently for him to ascend. Well...Peter waited patiently. Remus cracked within two seconds.

"Dare I ask why you're not moving?" he asked tensely.

Sirius gave a loud dramatic sigh. "It just doesn't feel the same without Prongs. He's always here, leading the way to the promised land along side me..."

Peter giggled while Remus rubbed his temples. "Well, James has expressed interest to be left here alone with Lily. That means, we need to go."

"But--" "Oh for the love of--" "Guys--" "Ouch!" "Go!" "Fine!" "Caref--" "Now!" "You need to shov--" "Pleas--" "Stop!" "Go!" "Rem--" "I hate you!" "Me too!" "This is--" "I don't--" "Up!"

With much more scuffling and cutting off eachother's sentences, the three boys disappeared up the stairs and I found myself alone with James all too soon.

He smiled at me. "Gnats, eh?"

I nodded, feeling my stomach shiver as a wide smile spread across his face.

He sauntered slowly over to me. It's times like these when I wonder if he knows how I feel and he does these things just to torture me.

"Can I sit here?" he asked, grinning crookedly at me.

All I could do was nod again. He sat down and I cleared my throat, intending to make a witty comment about his lack of class; that's when I saw it.

It was crawling around on the couch cushion right behind his right shoulder, barely noticeable against the dark fabric. I lunged across James, smashing the bug against the seat in one swift motion. I grinned triumphantly as I killed it, feeling peace for the second time that night.

"Finally!"

James cleared his throat. "Er...I realize that you may have just fulfilled your life's ambition of semi-hugging me, but next time, can you maybe tell me beforehand? It would've been much more enjoyable if I had known what you were about to do."

My stomach dropped and my cheeks burned in embarrassment as I shot away from him. "It was a gnat!"

He raised an eyebrow, sending chills down my arms. "Sure it was."

I glowered at him. "You wouldn't know anything about that."

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but I know a little something about semi-hugs. Allow me to demonstrate?"

I folded my arms. "Absolutely not."

"Please?"

"No."

"All you have to do is pretend theres another 'gnat' and semi-hug me," he urged.

"_No_!"

"Lily, please?"

The denial got stuck in my throat and before I knew it, I was back in my original position. I could almost hear his smile from where I lay.

"Now," he instructed. "This is semi-hugging. But when I put my arms around you..." he wrapped his arms around me tightly. "This is called hugging."

I shakily let out a breath of air and sourly said, "I know."

"When I move my arms like this..." he moved one arm securely around my shoulder and one hand to my waist, chuckling softly. "Now, Lily Evans, I'm holding you."

I took a breath in, intending to steady myself; it absolutely derailed me.

The scent of breakfast and sky and pajamas invaded my senses and the close proximity seemed to hit me for the first time. I let out a strangled laugh and cleared my throat. "Well-I-I, I think..."

My unformed thought disappeared as James began tracing circles on my waist lightly with his fingers.

"We-I-We can't...James...this is..."

"What?" he whispered. "Come on, Lily. We haven't fought since the end of last year! Come to Hogsmeade with me."

My heart stopped, I swear.

Along with ceasing our wall-shaking screaming matches, James also abandoned the idea of asking me out every two hours. Out of the pattern of rejecting him for so long, my brain fumbled with answers before coming up with a 'yes'. That was it. No smart come-backs. No witty rejections. A plain and simple 'yes'.

I swallowed hard. "Well...I gu--"

"Sorry to interrupt," a cheery voice said, as it bounded down the stairs. "I forgot my homework!"

"_Sirius_," James hissed, glaring daggers at his friend.

"Yes?"

"Padfoot!" Remus roared, pounding down the stairs after him.

"I always knew people would enjoy screaming my name," he said, grinning at me. "Your turn, Evans."

I slowly (and regretfully) extricated myself from James' hold on me. "Sirius," I said sweetly.

"Oh, see? Evans is such a little bar of niceness!"

I laughed softly. "And as a bar of niceness, I would like to inform you that you have a gnat on your cheek."

His handsome features dropped the happy expression and looked at me warily. "Evans..."

I raised my hand and he squealed, knocking over Remus in his haste to get to the stairs. "Not again!"

"Remus--" James began, frowning.

"Don't worry, mate," Remus growled, picking himself up. "I'll hex him to Bulgaria and back before you even come upstairs. It'll humble him for life."

I giggled as Remus stomped up the stairs, wand raised menacingly. "I love him," I said affectionately.

"I love you."

I literally froze. James had broken the light-hearted atmosphere with his words as simple as if he did it everyday, which I knew he didn't. James was usually the cause of the carefree feelings that floated around the school. I spluttered for what seemed like an eternity, knowing full well there was no way to answer him. He didn't seem to care. He stood up from the couch, walking towards me with a faint smile on his face.

"J-James, I--"

He pressed a finger to my lips, sufficiently stopping my voice.

"Come with me to Hogsmeade."

My brain went into overdrive. It was screaming no and yes at the same time and I was so confused I stood there like a fool before James spoke again.

"I think you need speech lessons," he joked, cocking his head to one side.

"O-Oh?"

"Yeah. I think you do...how about you call me Professor Potter?"

I raised my eyebrows in incredulity and he answered my unasked question with delight. "I'm going to teach you how to talk to me, Lily Evans."

"What--I _know _how to talk to you!" I exclaimed, the silence broken by my shrill lie. In all honesty, I couldn't talk to James to save my life half the time.

He disregarded my statement with a wave of his hand and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Alright, in order to speak, you have to use your lips, yeah?"

"Technically you use your mouth," I muttered.

"Even better," he grinned. "Now I know why all the teachers love you. You're by far the best student I've ever had."

"James, I'm the only student you've ever had."

"True, but that's beside the point. Now, in order to speak to me, you have to be comfortable with me. Are you comfortable with me?"

"Yes," I fibbed.

James smirked before raising a hand and placing it on my shoulder. He slowly drew me closer to him, until I could count every fleck of gold in his eyes. I began to grow increasingly dizzy. Oh, this was not good at all.

"Are you comfortable now?"

"Er--I--"

"Good enough," he cut across me, biting back a smile. "Step two, you have to want to talk to me. Do you want to talk to me, Lily Evans?"

I really wish he would quit using my full name, it was so ruddy distracting. "Yeah," I breathed, unable to get enough air into my lungs.

"I thought so," he murmured, his eyes growing soft.

And now he was leaning in and it was possible that I was merely dreaming, however if I was, I had no intention of waking up anytime soon. He was coming closer and closer and his nose skimmed the tip of mine, sending chills down my spine. He stopped centimeters from my mouth and I sighed in frustration. What was he playing at?

He closed his eyes for a moment, and I got the instinct impression he was gathering his bearings. It didn't occur to me before this time that this must have been as hard on him as it was on me. After all he _had _been proclaiming his love for me every year since fourth.

"Step three," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "You have to have a...hold on what you're going to say. Do you think I have a hold, Lily?"

"Y-Yes?" I stuttered out.

"You're wrong. You fail."

"Ex-Excuse me?" I asked, pulling away from him slightly, forgetting the static that was crackling in the air around us. "I haven't even taken a final exam yet!"

"Right. I forgot about that..." he stepped closer to me again, this time sliding his hands around my waist. "There's the hold I've been looking for all these years."

And now he was the one swallowing hard and pressing his mouth together uncertainly. "Pop Quiz," he muttered before pulling me towards him with such strength, I couldn't have fought back even if I had tried. His mouth crushed against mine and he was kissing me like I'd never been kissed before in my entire life, and the most wonderful part about it was that it was James and it was real and raw and so long in the making that it was only natural. One hand moved up to my hair, tangling in the tresses; my arms were locked around his neck, holding on for dear life.

His tongue traced my lips and I shivered, inhaling his scent greedily. He pulled back against my hold, breaking the connection of our lips to say, "You passed. I think you told me everything I need to know."

I stood there, breathing hard, looking at him with such desire that I almost couldn't handle it. "James--"

"Are you ready to talk to me now?" he asked, that crooked grin sidling its way onto his face.

My knees became weak and I shook my head vigorously, closing the gap with such fierce passion that we were left breathless for the rest of our lives.


End file.
